For over a hundred years now, cinema has given us the safe thrill of the roller-coaster - the chance to overdose on adrenaline, scream our lungs out and cover our eyes as monsters and killers prowl the silver screen before our very eyes. Be they werewolves or vampires, creepy crawlies or serial killers, a cavalcade of movie monsters have delivered horror and spine-chilling delight to happily terrified audiences around the world. Perhaps reliving the honour, sacrifice and brutality of war is more your style? Witnessing terrible conflict on celluloid certainly beats experiencing it in real life and reminds us of the monumental price our forebears have paid throughout history. A CINEMATIC HISTORY OF VIOLENCE charts some of the author's favourite films from cinema's beginnings to today and will hopefully remind the reader of some long forgotten gems waiting to be rediscovered. The book reflects the author's personal relationship with the films he reviews within. Some movies are classics - true landmarks in cinema history or defining examples of their genre. Others are less well known or appreciated, while some belong to the "so bad they're good" school of cinema. The reader and viewer will not agree with every one of the author's selections - they are not supposed to - but they might discover a gem or two over the course of the book, or reacquaint themselves with an old favourite. The reviews are more like personal essays, written with humour and a huge dollop of anecdotal insight. We're not saying that if Hunter S. Thompson had been a film critic he would have written this book, but he may well have read it!